Wake Forest University
12-1
George Mason
5-7
Wake Forest Remains Perfect at Home with 14-2 Win
3/9/2022 10:39:00 PM | Baseball
The Deacs netted at least two runs from the third to seventh innings, recording their seventh double-digit run game of the season.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC. -- Behind another impressive team effort, the Wake Forest baseball team got back in the win column Wednesday night, defeating George Mason, 14-2, at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Demon Deacons remain a perfect 12-0 in home games this season. They have outscored their opponents 148-37 in those outings.
Additionally to open the new campaign, the Deacs (12-1) hold an overall team batting average of .360 with a .471 on-base percentage and team ERA of just 2.61. Wake Forest entered the game as the nation's leader in batting average.
After the Wake Forest bats were held down in the first two frames, the Deacs started to come alive with a pair of runs as the bottom of the lineup set the tone for the Demon Deacons.
Nick Kurtz and Chris Katz singled to lead off the inning. They would later come around to score on a single by Tommy Hawke and a SAC fly from Brock Wilken. The Deacs led the rest of the way from that point, netting multiple runs in each of the next four innings.
The bottom three in the order, Jake Reinisch, Kurz and Katz, combined to go 7-of-9 on the night while also scoring seven of the Wake Forest runs and driving in a combined five runs.
On the mound, Reed Mascolo earned his first victory of the season, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing just two runs. The combination of Gabe Golob, Brennen Oxford, Jacob Grzbinski, Eric Adler and Seth Keener closed out the game with no runs allowed on just two hits.
How It Happened
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Reed Mascolo opened up the Wednesday contest with a scoreless first, highlighted for a pickoff for the third and final out of the inning.
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George Mason struck first as a lead off double came over to score on a sacrifice fly as the Patriots took hold of a 1-0 lead.
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Tommy Hawke made a running grab on a deeply hit ball to center field for the second out of the frame before Brock Wilken fielded a hard grounder to third base, taking him into foul territory before firing the ball off one leg to Nick Kurtz at first to end the inning.
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A routine 6-4-3 double play ended Mascolo's second-straight hitless frame in the top of the third.
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Wake Forest took a 2-1 lead thanks to a pair of runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the third.
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Wake Forest had two runners in scoring position and Kurtz and Chris Katz tallied back-to-back singles before advancing on an error by George Mason's pitcher on a pick off.
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Tommy Hawke scored Kurtz with Wake Forest's third-straight single as the freshmen pushed the ball to shallow left field.
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Brock Wilken plated Katz with a sacrifice fly to left field, his 16th RBI of the season.
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Mascolo continued to deal as the right hander sat down the Patriots in order in the fourth with a ground out, strikeout and foul out to Katz in right field.
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Back-to-back RBI-singles from Kurtz and Katz pushed home a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, pushing the Deacs lead to 4-1.
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Brendan Tinsman tallied a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a ground out before Jake Reinisch also walked to put two Deacs on base.
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A solo home run from George Mason cut into Wake Forest's lead (4-2) in the top of the fifth.
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Mascolo forced the opening outs of the inning, highlighted by a strikeout, before Gabe Golob took over on the mound.
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With the bases loaded, Golob induced a ground out to preserve the Deacs' two-run lead.
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The Deacs extended their lead to five (7-2) after a three-run long fly from Brendan Tinsman after five full innings.
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Brock Wilken and Adam Cecre both scored on the homer as the duo both walked with one out.
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Golob came out in the top of the sixth and made quick work of the Patriots, sending the visitors down in order. The right hander forced back-to-back ground outs before fanning a Patriot batter to end the inning.
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The Deacs added four runs in the bottom of the sixth, increasing their advantage to 11-2 with four walks, a hit batter, a balk and a sac fly.
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Wake Forest plated all four with no one out with a total of eight Deacs making a plate appearance in the inning.
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Brennen Oxford tossed a scoreless top of the seventh as the left handers forced a foul out and an inning-ending double play, keeping the Deacs lead at 11-2.
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The Deacs plated three more runs in the bottom of the seventh as Katz and Jimmy Broderick tallied RBI doubles, increasing their lead to 14-2.
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Broderick's two-bagger scored Katz and Hawke, who walked, while Katz's double scored Reinisch, who also walked.
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Wake Forest kept George Mason off the scoreboard for the third-straight inning as Jacob Grzebinski hit the mound in the eighth, capping off his scoreless frame with a pair of strikeouts.
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Eric Adler and Seth Keener both closed the door in the ninth as the duo helped claim the 12-run victory.
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Adler induced the opening outs of the game before Keener entered and fanned the first and only batter he faced.
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Standout Stat
The Demon Deacons remain a perfect 12-0 in home games this season. They have outscored their opponents 148-37 in those outings.
For the fourth time this season, the Deacs finished the game with double-digit walks. Each of those outings, Wake Forest has also recorded double-digit hits and has averaged 17.75 runs per game.
The Deacs continue to get strong performances from their pitchers as Wake Forest's opponents have yet to score more than five runs in a single game this season.
Overall, Wake Forest is outscoring their opponents by an average of 8.5 runs per game.
Words from Walter
"We've been pressing these last couple of days at the plate and hopefully we can turn that around before Friday. Our pitching was solid tonight. Each guy that came in did a nice job. Brendan Tinsman's home run was huge. That separated us for good. Defensively, we did a nice job. Brock Wilken made a couple of great defensive plays and Tommy Hawke did as well with his over-the-shoulder catch in center field. Any win is a good win, but we need to be ready to go by Friday. We're going to be seeing three really good arms from Florida State."
On Deck
Wake Forest will now open conference play with a three-game weekend series against Florida State on March 11-13 at David F. Couch Ballpark.
Friday's first pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. Saturday and Sunday's contests will begin at 1 p.m. and will air live on the Regional Sports Networks.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mascolo, Reed (1-0)
L: Britt Yount (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Connor Dykstra 1
HR: Scott Morgan 1
RBI: Scott Morgan 1 ; Brett Ahalt 1
SF: Brett Ahalt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Connor Dykstra 1 ; Scott Morgan 1
CS: Brett Ahalt 1
HBP: South Trimble 1
PO: Danny Hosley 1
Batting:
2B: Broderick, James 1 ; Katz, Chris 1
HR: Tinsman, Brendan 1
RBI: Hawke, Tommy 1 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Broderick, James 2 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 3 ; Kurtz, Nick 1 ; Katz, Chris 2
SF: Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hawke, Tommy 2 ; Turconi, Michael 1 ; Wilken, Brock 1 ; Cecere, Adam 1 ; Tinsman, Brendan 2 ; Reinisch, Jake 2 ; Kurtz, Nick 2 ; Katz, Chris 3
SB: Hawke, Tommy 1
CS: Hawke, Tommy 1
HBP: Katz, Chris 1
